The Monitor Stand

My great idea of using a rack mounted monitor turned out not to be such a great idea after all. Actually, I still like the idea very much, but it is just too close to the table to be very functional and I found myself folding it part way down when I went to zero the machine. Now, if they made one that would slide way out and swing to the side then everything would be great, but .... I digress.

So I thought how could I mount the monitor and still make it swivel and tilt. The answer was simple! Well simple after my friend Pastor John applied some grey matter to it with me in a brain storming session. The idea was settled on using a flange, a nipple, a coupling and part of the monitor itself. John was kind enough to fabricate the coupling and monitor base part. Thank you Brother John!

Here is a picture of the parts. These images are very similar with the exception of a couple of rotations in parts. The top right is the mounting flange. The bottom right is the coupler that has been cut down and the original monitor base welded to it and cut down. The center item is a pipe nipple and will serve to run the power and video cables through and elevate the monitor above the X-Axis stepper motor. The part on the left is the stand portion of the monitor. The square section attached to the monitor while the other end will attach to the plate that is welded to the nipple.

Painting the stand

Zachary was kind enough to clean the parts and paint them. In these three images you see the unpainted and painted parts, then in the final image Zachary has put them together so that you can see how the assembly goes.

Putting it all together

To attach the monitor stand to the side table a series of holes had to be drilled. The first image shows these holes. You have four mounting holes and a large hole in the center to pass the monitor's power and video cables through. The corner of the table is a little scraped up so it will receive some paint before the stand is mounted to it. The next image shows the stand attached and the Monitor attached to the stand. I have to give Zachary credit here. He done all the painting and assembly on this upgrade. Great work son!

Where to from here ...

This basically completes the Monitor Stand and Monitor upgrade. The only thing left to do is route the power and VGA cable for the monitor. That brings us to the next upgrade. Before we get carried away with running the PID or limit switches and other wire related projects, the left side of the machine table needs to be closed in and grommeted. As it stands, I will have to undo the wiring for the motors and then rewire them to get this piece in place. No sense in creating any more work than I already have for myself. Once the panel is in place and wired back up, I will take a pause on the upgrades to do some more cutting. I need to cut a couple of simple plaques that will be cast in aluminum as part of a grave marker for a couple of our pets. This is the project that caused the resurrection of the old JGRO CNC and the building of this one. They are important to my wife, and it is important for me to do it for her. So we will see you in the next upgrade, and then a new projects area for the KRMx01 CNC. Happy building!!!

UPDATE

Thought I woud post another picture of the monitor stand with it actually on. Zachary and I pulled the monitor / keyboard drawer from the rack and replaced it with a keyboard tray. This one works but I would like to find a better one that slide out a bit further than this one does. But you will get the idea nonetheless.